aMeRiCaN BaTTLe RoYaLe: RiSe oF THe MuRDeR MaCHiNe
by KiriyamaGurl
Summary: WHo WiLL LiVe aND WHo WiLL Die iN THiS DaRKLY GRiPPiNG aND HoRRiFiC aDVeNTuRe? aBaNDoNeD iN THe BuRNiNG DePTHS oF a LiViNG HeLL, WHaT WiLL THeSe 42 CoNDeMNeD SouLS Do To SuRViVe THe NiGHTMaRe? ReaD aND ReVieW MY DeBuT NoVeL, i DaRe You! ..RaTeD HaRDCoRe..
1. THe CoNDeMNeD!

_**CLaSS 12a oF LoReLei HiGH **_

_**(WiLLoWFieLD, oHio)**_

_**...**_

_**BoYS**_

_**1. JoSH WiLSoN**_

_**2. GaBRieL RoDRiQueZ**_

_**3. GeRaRD VoN GaMMa**_

_**4. MaTT TaYLoR**_

_**5. DaNNY aNDeRSoN**_

_**6. JaMie GReeN**_

_**7. aLeX BaKeR**_

_**8. MaSoN HaRRiS**_

_**9. WiLL CLaRK**_

_**10. JaCoB GaRCia**_

_**11. NiCK DeViTo **_

_**12. CHRiS WaLKeR**_

_**13. eTHaN JaCKSoN **_

_**14. DaiSuKe aNDo **_

_**15. aNDReW SCoTT **_

_**16. TRiSTaN RoBeRTS **_

_**17. MiCHaeL aDaMS **_

_**18. LoGaN TuRNeR **_

_**19. RYaN JoHNSoN **_

_**20. JaCK MaRTiN**_

_**21. DYLaN MiLLeR**_

**_..._**

_**GiRLS**_

_**1. CouRTNeY JoNeS **_

_**2. LauReN DaViS **_

_**3. aBBY WHiTe **_

_**4. JeSSiCa THoMaS **_

_**5. MoRGaN RoBiNSoN **_

_**6. SYDNeY MooRe **_

_**7. LaYLa BRoWN **_

_**8. aLeXiS WiLLiaMS **_

_**9. GRaCe JoHNSoN **_

_**10. BeLLa MiTCHeLL**_

_**11. HaNNaH aLLen **_

_**12. KeNNeDY SMiTH**_

_**13. SCaRLeTT LoVeLaCe**_

_**14. eMMa SiLVeRMaN**_

_**15. LiLY NeLSoN**_

_**16. CHLoe HiLL**_

_**17. MoLLY CaRTeR**_

_**18. DeSTiNY KiNG**_

_**19. MaYa MaRTiNeZ **_

_**20. aRiaNa LeWiS **_

_**21. MaDiSoN Lee**_

_**...**_

_**NoW THaT You'VE MeT THe CoNDeMNeD...**_

**_...WHo WiLL LiVe aND WHo WiLL Die?_**


	2. THe NiGHTMaRe BeGiNS!

_**[THe SToRY iS BeST ReaD iN WHiTe oN BLaCK + THe FoNT aRiaL]**_

_**ReaD oNWaRDS iF You DaRe...**_

It was a sunny and cloudy day in the town/city of willowfield, ohio. For all the schools in the districts it was nearing the end of the academic term and students were getting excited to take some deserved (in some cases more than others) time away from their studies for leisure and recreation. One particular wealthy school in the northern east, suburban area of town, called lorelei high, held a lottery at the end of each semester where all forty classes of the school could win a modest yet exciting weekend trip if they were lucky in the raffle. Sometimes it was camping at a recreational campsite with canooes and archery activities, which appealed to some, and on other times it was an overnight trip to a rollercoaster park. On a couple of memorable occasions the winning class had even recieved a cheap citybreak in new york city, and even the hotel they stayed in wasnt glamourous, and hours were spent in a cramped bus, they got to spend a few hours on times square before watching a show on the broadway. Lorelei high was not a bad school, and thats why it would suprise everybody to know that it had been chosen for a battle royale.

"O.k. everybody!" shouted Mr Philips into the megaphone as he tried to balance a clipboard and coffee on the other arm. "make an orderly line to be registered before you get on the bus okay! I have a seating plan!" With the exception of the chorus of boos and hisses at the last comment, the class seemed remarkably cheerful, and why shouldnt they, nobody, not even the principal or there parents knew that they were destined for cruel deaths on an island many miles away from home. All of the kids who belonged to gangs and groups stood with them, whilst those who did not tried to make pleasant conversation and to not stick out so much as a loner. Everybody spoke and laughed but every now and then one person would stop talking and cry out "Here!" as Mr Phillips called their name, eventualy everybody had been registered and mr phillips let them onto the bus. "O.k. students! The seating plan is-" but he was cut off and nearly trampled as everybody piled into the bus at once, filling it up starting at the back.

Mr Philips adjusted his glasses. "Oh boy!" he explained, and took a seat at the front, his suit all messed up and his wig sliding off of his bald patch. "driver!" he called, "you can begin driving!" everybody started cheering and waving their arms as the bus began driving away from lorelei high, and soon willowfield, ohio, all thinking that they were heading to a boardwalk resort on the south of lake eerie.

Scarlett Lovelace wasn't feeling as cheerful as everybody else on the bus. It was not because she was feeling sad or because her parents were dead, it was just because she knew highschool was ending very soon and she knew she was going to miss everybody. Well not everybody, but maybe in a few years she'd look back on her memories of the people she didn't like much and laugh a little. Her classmates, some she liked and some she didn't, were her family, but she'd never admit that due to embarrassment. It wasnt easy being a girl like Scarlett, all she knew was that her mother was a drunk floozy called Kelly who could only ever admit to being sober in her AA meetings based on how long it was since the session started, and that was on her good days. She was not a rich woman and she had fallen out with her family and she did not know the father of her infant daughter, as she had a thing for crashing any and every parties, whether they were the ones pulled by arty folks in abandoned warehouses in the gritty part of the city, a kegger at a frathouse, an expensive bar mitzvah or even a kids party, just as long as she could maybe steal some wine from the parents fridge and let the clown or magician feel her up so he'd lie and say she was part of his act. But her nonstop partying got the better of her and she drank too much in too little time, and not even a vicious stomach pumping in the ER could spare her from her vomit covered death.

Scarlett was adopted by her mothers landlady, an old chainsmoker called Mrs Kathy Lovelace. Mrs Kathy always staggered about in ugly knitwear and saggy stockings and only ever drank tea or coffee if she could pour some whiskey into it, she also had several cats of varying ages, some feral kittens and others zombielike hairshedders who peed in the hallway. But even though Mrs Kathy could be nasty, cheap and make Scarlett sleep in a tiny bedroom on the side of the small apartment building which was closest to the traintracks, she was something of a mother. Just a really weird one. There was undoubtedly no love between the two women, but there was also no hatred, maybe some resentment, but the two could only tolerate each other with some sort of morbid respect - or at least that was until Scarlett searched for her birth father which was a great insult to Mrs Kathy, who told Scarlett that if she loved her daddy so much, then why was she staying under her roof? Scarlett soon found out that her father was actually a kid not much older than herself called Wayne, who was thirteen when, at a family wedding, threatened to reveal Kelly as a wedding crasher before she silenced him by taking his virginity - and then vomiting on his dinnerjacket. Wayne was pretty okay, a bit of a perv based on what Scarlett saw on his computer when he forgot to log off, but okay. Plus he kept forgetting Scarlett was his daughter and looking at her funny, but Scarlett didn't care, she saw him as more of an uncle, which she guessed didn't make the situation any less incesty.

He ended up overdosing on sleeping pills when he got made reduntant, and in a strange twist of fate, had a vomit covered death in the bathroom as Scarlett tried and failed to use a combination of ipecac syrup, a toothbrush and her own fingers to make him puke the stuff back up. The simularities between the deaths of her mother and father, twelve years apart, was more than unnerving and gave Scarlett a negative outlook on what her own fate might be, and if she'd need to take a sparechange of clothes and some mouthwash. But she was 18 now, and even though the only people to know about the horrific deaths of her parents were their own families and Mrs Kathy, Scarlett was always aware that her peers seemed to have some sort of ghostly insight into her unpleasant background. But most of them were polite about it, and most had matured enough to realise that it wasn't funny or cool to make orphan jokes anymore, although some did still crack the occasional 'you live with a creepy old cat lady' and 'you dress like you're going to a funeral' lines. But times had changed and she had come out of her shell, tracking down her father whilst homeless had taught her that it didn't do anybody any good to be a self doubting dweeb - and now people liked her, or at least disliked her a little less, because of it.

"Hey, Scarlett!" cried a boys voice, friendly but a little rough around the edges. Scarlett had barely any time to turn and look before the resident punk, Chris Walker, places a tattoed, tanned hand on the back of her chair and hopped over, landing in the seat next to her with a crash. He looked up at her with his striking face and smiled, a genuine one, and not a cheesy teeth flash either, but she could see in his mascara lined eyes that there was something geniuine about whatever overly happy thing he was about to thrust on her. "I was just making the rounds, saying my goodbyes and good riddances and everything, and I just realised I hadn't come over to you yet."

"Oh really?" Scarlett replied quizzically, "We've only been on the road for five minutes."

"I say goodbye fast." Chris said, smiling. As he said that, Scarlett couldn't help but notice his snakebite piercings, the studs of choice for many a wannabe goth or emo girl once she could convince her parents to let her go to the cheesy 'body art' store at the strip mall - and as cheesy and tacky as she thought they were, she couldnt help but think they looked good on him.

"I don't want to sound like a noob..." Scarlett said with a smile, "But I like your snakebites."

"Really?" Chris said, "My older brothers girlfriend did them for me, she's working at a tattoo place, only he's too much of a pussy to let her practice on him, so I just offer myself up as her rugged, blank canvas and score some free shit."

"Oh...That's really cool, Chris." Scarlett said, "I've always wanted to get a tattoo, but I'm worried I wouldn't like it. I want to design my own one without it looking to fake and tacky you know? None of those lovehearts and dolphins you see on the walls of those tattoo places that other people have designed, I want something unique - But I'm worried I can't create anything unique enough - silly huh."

"Not really, I get where you're coming from - The stuff Sandy inks on me is art, experimental art which makes it even edgier I guess." Chris raised his chin and yanked down on the collar of the raggedy Sex Pistols shirt which he had made into a vest, and revealled an intricate tattoo of a visceral heart caught in spiky thorns, almost directly placed over his heart, and whilst Scarlett couldn't help but admire the design, she could also feel her eyes wandering downwards, peering down his shirt as if she was some sort of perv, and luckily, Chris distracted her. "Also, don't call me Chris, you can call me Bones. Can I still call you Scarlett?"

"Yeah, you can Chri-Bones." Scarlett said, starting to feel a little drowsy, blinking her violet eyes. "Also, that tattoo is mega awesome, but it's in the wrong place, your hearts over...Over there~!" Scarlett made an attempt to poke him in the heart, not only to prove her point but to also determine how hard his chest was, but found herself poking him in the throat instead.

"Oh shi-" Bones cried, "I think you cut me!"

"Oh god! I'm so sorreeeeeeeeeee!" Scarlett said, her voice deflating as her head began to feel as heavy as an anvil on her shoulders.

"Uh...Scarlett?" Bones said, raising an eyebrow, "So um yeah...You're getting weird so I'm just saying my goodbyes."

"Waiiiiit!" Scarlett whimpered, "Don't goooooOo! I mean...Why are you leaving again."

"I'm dropping out of lorelei high, man." Bones replied, "And I'm starting to feel woozy, so I'm going back to my seat."

"Wait!" Scarlet whispered, her vision completely foggy, "You say you're dropping out of school every other week but you never do...You can sit here if you want!"

"No." Bones said, his voice a little hurt, "And I mean it this time. I thought you were cool, Scarlett." And with that, he struggled to stand, and he felt his knees tiring, before slowly finding his way back to his seat through the crowd of slumbering classmates.

"Oh craaap." Scarlett said, "I messed up." And she couldnt help herself any longer, her eyes finally shut for good and her mouth hung slightly agape, before she fell sideways and slept in the chairs, awkwardly stirring and wobbling everytime the bus went over a pothole. With a smile, the busdriver looked into the rear mirror at all the sleeping people in his bus, and he knew he'd done his job well, only you'd never know he was smiling, as he was wearing a gasmask. As the last of them began to sleep, he turned and headed down a dirt road towards some hanger and a landing strip west of willowfields. As they slept in confusion and slight worry, the lorelei high students had a strange sense of calm based on the certainty that when they woke up, they'd be approaching a sandy beach overlooking one of the biggest lakes in the continent. But they were only partly right, about there being a beach - as they were going to a completely different landmass!

_**So THe NiGHTMaRe BeGiNS...ReaD aND ReVieW!**_


	3. MeeT THe BuTCHeRS!

_**[THe SToRY iS BeST ReaD iN WHiTe oN BLaCK + THe FoNT aRiaL]**_

_**ReaD oNWaRDS iF You DaRe...**_

Everything was dark and hazy, as it was in most of Scarlett's dreams. Growing up without a proper family had left her with a strange void in her mind that when left to it's own devices, showed nothing but darkness and mystery. Maybe it was the lack of love recieved as a child, or the bitter thoughts harbored by a girl who grew up feeling lonely and neglected, but whatever it was, it was nothing, and as strange yet comfortably familiar as it was to Scarlett, there was one thing she did know. She was not safe. The bus was a blur, everybody falling asleep or dead even, as if they had all had some slow acting poison and expired at the same time. It was like something out of those creepy stories Miss Kathy used to read Scarlett before she went to sleep as the child, where the figure in the red cloak came into the castle which had been locked up by the rude king so he and all the other noblepeople could drink wine and party as the countryside around them succumbed to the plague - punishing them for thinking that their foolish luxury and extravagance could shield them from the pain and death of the peasants wasting away in the fields outside. All of the rich people died at once, and then were reanimated, dancing as they had been doing before, but their skin red and bleeding. They danced the danse macabre and dragged the evil king down to hell with them and then the man in the red cloak, who was actually a personification of the disease itself, left the castle and met up with all the other plagues before moving to a different land.

A siren rang out, like those ones in England during the World Wars whenever Germans were dropping bombs over London. Scarlett felt herself wake up and her eyes fluttered open, before closing themselves again at the harsh light that nearly blinded her. She rolled onto her side and could feel something warm around her neck, something that had slowly been heated by her blood and flesh and despite that favour, was ready to spray one and burn the other if she so much as tried to remove it. She rolled herself onto her front and her face met the cool floor, there was some light sweat on her pale face and she started to feel the plastic covering of the floor cling to her face as she tried to pull away. Opening her eyes and gasping in shock, she realized that the entire floor of the room had a large sheet of transparent tarp over it, the sort of thing serial killers and torturers used to collect the blood of their kills so they wouldn't leave any D.N.A anywhere. Pulling herself to her knees, Scarlett could see that she was in what appeared to be a kids classroom, only all the colors from the posters, charts and wall displays had long faded away, giving every tone in the room other than the people in it a grey on gray effect. Staggering to her feet, Scarlett fingered the collar around her neck and saw that everybody else had one, a band of silvery metal, slightly bigger over the apple of the throat than it was on the rest, and on that a tiny glass panel with a blinking red light behind it.

On the back of each collar was a small yet complicated locking system, and Scarlett instantly feared that neither she or anybody else would be able to take this off themselves.

Suddenly, the door exploded open and slammed against the wall sending out a cloud of dust. A huge metal trolley was rolled into the room by a soldier-type person, that looked like the sort workers at the supermarket used to carry products from the back of the store to the shelves, only this one had been spraypainted a shade of olive green and carried what looked like nearly 50 army-looking bags. At least eleven other soldier men followed the one who had pushed in the trolley in single fire, before turning, pointing their guns into the sealing and each unloading a single bullet in sequence. Everybody began screaming and rushing around, pushing at others to find a safe place to hide and trampling those who had already fallen. A strong hand hit Scarlett between the shoulderblades and sent her to the floor where she slid a few feet over the plastic before hitting the wall and bumping her head. She yelped in pain and lifted a hand to her scalp, weaving her fingers between her shoulderlength hair that she had dyed a seductive yet alternative shade of cherry red, drawing her fingers away and examining them, she found droplets of dark blood on her fingers, causing her to grimace. At least half of the class made a mad dash for the door which the soldiers had entered through, and several were jabbed with the butts of rifles or shoved to the ground whilst those who were more aggressive in their escape attempt were clubbed over the head.

The soldiers retreated several steps and each fired several rounds into the ground at the same time, causing any of the students still standing after the frontline assault to jump backwards in fright, and trip over their already downed peers. Scarlett felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into the face of Bones, neither of them said anything for a moment or two before Bones turned Scarlett around and examined her head before gasping at the sight of the wound.

"We need to get you cleaned up..I'm gonna say something." Bones said in a serious tone.

"No don't!" Scarlett cried, "They'll kill you!" and with that she grabbed Bones by the hand as he tried to stand up, and pulled him back down to his knees.

"Wow." He said, "You're kinda stronger than you look."

"I'm so sorry about what I said on the bus!" Scarlett cried, "My head was feeling all funny, I didn't know what I was saying!"

"It's okay..." Bones said glancing up at the soldiers, "I think we were all acting funny. They gassed us."

"Gassed us?" Scarlett cried in shock, "Why?"

"I don't know..." Bones started, "But as far as I'm aware, we're not on the mainland anymore."

"How can you tell?" Scarlett asked.

"I can hear the sea." Bones replied.

"We might be on the coast, somebody will come to find us!" Scarlett stated optimistically.

"No." Bones replied, "The coast is practically inhabited all the way down, somebody would have found us by now if we were there. I think...We're definitely out at sea."

"ALL OF YOU MAGGOTS SHUT UP!" Cried a deep, hoarse voice. All eyes went up to the thirteenth man who had joined the room, he had deeply tanned skin that was pink and sunburnt in places, the sleeves of his uniform rolled up to reveal tattooed wrists. His eyes were hidden behind aviators, and there was no hair beneath his army cap. "I AM CAPTAIN BOYD AND YOU ALL WILL ADDRESS ME AS SUCH!"

"Calm down Castor." Said a female voice, "You'll break the mics." In walked a woman, barely a year or two older than any of the students in the room. She was pale and slim, with dark brown hair, nearly black, cascading down her back. Her eyes were deep and hooded, her eyelashes long and curled, and purple eyeshadow giving her a near vamp-like look. She was several feet shorter than Captain Boyd, who in all rights was practically a giant and looked like he could pick her up with one hand and toss her half a mile, and pick up any of the burly soldiers behind them and snap their spines like twigs.

The woman in black stepped to the front of the room and with a devilish smile, said "Hello class A. I am Ebony Hunter, and I'll be your hostess for the next three days." Her movements were sensual and poised, like an actress from old silent movies who had to convey emotion in each and every movement, yet her voice was blunt and deadpan. Everything about this woman screamed femme fatale, and despite the fact she looked like a high class escort, she had an aura of coldness and sadism. Something about those eyes was enchanting, and not in a flattering way, she was like one of those big snakes in the jungle who hypnotised helpless animals into being compliant, so she could wrap herself around their frail bodies and crush their bones into dust.

The class erupted in voices, people demanded to know where they were, what was happening to them, why there were collars around their necks and what had happened to Mr Phillips. They were all hushed by the powerful motion of Ebony raising the palm of her hand to silence them, before she turned and pulled down a projector screen over the chalkboard and with a snap of her fingers, had a video appear on it. The video was silenced and merely showed the globe rotating, before zooming into north america, then to the eastern seaboard and then to an island in the atlantic that was close enough to the US mainland to be considered part of the country, but far enough away that it seemed perfectly isolated and forgotten. Then colour seeped into the digital reconstruction of the island, detailing wooden cabins admist a forest of pine and conifer trees, what appeared to be dirt roads leading into a dirty little shantytown and cold beaches littered with dark sand and hard rocks. Everything became computer animated again and the perspective shifted to birdseye, where the whole island was then divided into what looked like a chessboard.

"This is where you'll be spending the next 72 hours, and this little square here-" She said, pointing to one of the squares in the northwestern part of the island with a dark fingernail, "Is where you all currently are. You are going to leave this place soon, and you won't be able to return. After the last of you has left, this area will become a dangerzone, and simply entering it will warrant a swift execution."

People gasped and began whispering in fear, and then somebody raised their hand. Ebony Hunter motioned for the person to stand up, and it was revealled to be Andrew Scott, the class representative. He was a strong willed and decent looking boy who was interested in politics and eventually gaining a position in the US government, he seemed like a nice enough boy but Scarlett always secretly thought that somebody with such powerful ambitions was bound to be a snake. "What do you mean a swift execution? That implies death and I'll state the obvious that all of us, including you, our captors, are US citizens. To touch a single hair on our heads, let alone executing us, would be a serious violation of the law. Are you taking us hostage? We're from willowfield, ohio, we're not rich, we're all upper middleclass at best - so you better release us right now!"

"In response to that question, by quick execution we mean that yes, you will die - those collars you are wearing around your neck not only track your location on the island, but also monitor your life signs. If any of you act out of line or enter a dangerzone, and trust me, we'll add more every six hours, we will send a signal via radiowaves to a chip in your collar which will then tell the explosives lined around the inside to detonate. It isn't a very powerful blast, but trust me, it's truly lethal." Ebony said in a disinterested voice before clicking her fingers again and turning the projector off as everybody began crying and grabbing their collars, "But before we have an accident, I should just act that we don't need to send radiowaves if you begin trying to sabotage the collars or attempting to remove them, you'll simply set off an internal alarm system and they'll explode completely automatically - with no intervention from us."

All hands in the room dropped away from the collars instantly.

"As for the whole law and order debacle," Ebony started, "Yes, practically everyone in this room is a US citizen and the killing of anybody in this room is paramount to murder - a punishable offence in the eyes of the supreme court. Castor, his soldiers, the technicians and myself are all employed by a small and hidden branch of the US government that keeps frequent contact with the-"

"Republic of Greater East Asia..." Daisuke Ando said, the expression on his face frozen in shock and on the verge of tears. Daisuke was generally popular and funny, always invited to parties and social get togethers, there was hardly anybody that could dislike somebody as optimistic and easygoing as him.

"Yes, I believe you're familiar with the going-ons of that secretive nation, aren't you Daisuke - or should I say Shinji, being an illegal refugee." Ebony replied.

Scarlett, and probably nobody else in the class had any idea that Daisuke was explicitally from Japan. Everybody knew that he was Japanese in origin, but they all assumed he had simply grown up in the U.S. he didn't have a trace of a Japanese accent - and nobody knew why Ebony was calling him by a different name. Nobody knew what went on in the Republic, it was so shady and secretive, there wasn't even any mutual trade or shipping between them and the U.S. They were completely shut-off and isolated, as if the whole area was one giant impenetrable fortress.

"All of you are going to fight to the death on this island, and you have 72 hours to do it or else you're all going to die. Only one of you can leave this island alive. You'll each take a bag from the trolley over there which contains all the supplies you need, food, water, a map, compass and a random weapon...And then you'll leave this building and never come back - What is it now?" Ebony asked, pointing towards the other raised hand, this time belonging to a female.

"And what if we refuse?" Chloe Hill said, Chloe, like Andrew, was a political type, but instead of being interested in law and affairs like he was, she was into charity and welfare, she was an ace student who belonged both to the student government and the debate team, and even though Scarlett saw Chloe as less powerhungry than Andrew, Chloe was certainly more up herself. "What you're asking us to do is primitive and barbaric, battles and slaughters like this are frowned upon in the developed and sophisticated western world, and our government surely does not approve of this. Whether or not somebody survives this political tarbaby or we all die, what methods do you have of forcing our hands? We deserve freedom and respect!"

"Well..." Ebony said, "Your teacher, Mr Phillips is quite a like-minded individual to yourself, Miss Hill. He too didn't believe that any of you would partake in the activities that we have arranged, and that it was ethically and morally wrong to get any of you to participate. He was quite persuasive, I was quite moved by his passionate speech."

The doors were opened and a large leathery bag was wheeled into the room on a hospital gurney. The wheels squeaked with rust and a strange fluid had seemed to seep through the zipper of the bag and leave a trail along the floor that looked like fruitpunch. Ebony motioned for the soldier who had wheeled in the bag to unzip the bodybag halfway, and as he did so, revealing the gruesome contents and causing everybody to scream, Ebony pulled out a silver plated handgun from the holster strapped around her thigh and held it up.

"But he just couldn't reason with my gun..."

People screamed and moaned, some began to cry whilst others covered their eyes and tried to make their way to the back. Somebody vomited onto the plastic and the horrible smell met Scarlett's nose and she felt her stomach doing somersaults. Bones gripped her shoulder tightly, staring with morbid curiosity as the dead body of Mr Phillips, a bullet in the center of his forehead that blasted a large hole through the back of his skull, and caused the contents of which to pour out in a thick red goop, before staring away in disgust and biting down on his lip. Scarlett had covered both of her eyes with her hands, but stared between her fingers at the destroyed head as the brains and gore slowly rain down the legs of one of the gurney before collecting in a bloody quad just above the wheel, before falling to the floor and exploding with a squelch as the gurney, being pulled away again, ran it over. Ebony slid the gun back into her holster before rolling her black pencil skirt back down to conceal it, her black heels clicking against the ground as she marched over to the desk and retrieved a red envelope from it.

"Anyway, before I open this and reveal who the lucky one of you is who gets to leave first-" Ebony started before rolling her hypnotic eyes, "Christ, all of you stop whimpering and grow up! Haven't you seen a dead body before! You should all smile and count yourselves lucky, you'll be famous now! You're on to the internet!" And with that she pointed her finger in sequence to the cameras suspended from the cieling that nobody had noticed before.

"Sickos and sadists all over the world will be paying one hundred bucks each for every hour we stream this game to their computers! Don't you get it? They're your new fans and admirers, and to them, you're their champions and idols. So you better do each and every one of them proud and make their viewing very pleasurable and exciting." Ebony said in a sick voice, as if accusing everybody in the room of being ungrateful, "Which reminds me, we need to make two eliminations now to whet their appetites, they won't start giving us their credit details until we give them a little blood. Now...Which of you little piggies gets to die first?"

_**NoW THaT You HaVe MeT THe BuTCHeRS...ReaD aND ReVieW!**_


	4. iNTo THe DaRKNeSS!

_**auTHoRS NoTe: i aM ReaLLY PRouD oF HoW PoPuLaR MY NoVeL iS aLREADY! i HaVe aLMoST 70 VieWS aND aBouT 20+ ReaDeRS! i WouLD ReaLLY aPPReCiaTe SoMe ReVieWS, WRiTiNG iS MY PaSSioN aND i'Ve aLReaDY WRiTTeN So MuCH oF THe SToRY THaT i MiGHT eVeN uPDaTe eVeRY DaY! THe MaiN MeSSaGe To MY FaNS iS THaT THiS iS a TWo WaY STReeT, WHiLST i WiLL aLWaYS Be a WRiTeR, i THiNK THaT iT iS oNLY FaiR THaT FoR eaCH CHaPTeR i PoST, You PaY YouR ReSPeCTS WiTH SoMe FeeDBaCK... SaM xox**_

_**...**_

_**[THe SToRY iS BeST ReaD iN WHiTe oN BLaCK + THe FoNT aRiaL]**_

_**ReaD oNWaRDS iF You DaRe...**_

It was like a graveyard in that room, nobody was quite moving or making any sounds, all paralysed in fear. Any fleeting notion that the whole event was just a planned joke or a character building test was quickly gotten rid of at the sudden exposure to the partially headless corpse of the authority figure who was supposed to be looking after them for the field trip. All that they could hope for was for the boarded up windows to suddenly explode open and for S.W.A.T. men to come in and rescue them, or for Miss Ebony Hunter to recieve a phonecall from her boss telling her that the game had been cancelled and everybody would have to be returned. Maybe if one of the alleged rich perverts watching through the cameras had it in their heart to track down the kids and alert the police, then maybe they could hold a few hours on that damned island for help boats to arrive. But no, they all sat there at gunpoint whilst Ebony and Captain Boyd stared down at them, as if trying to pick out which players were weak and dull enough that the game wouldn't be effected should they be eliminated before it even started. Which two students they could afford to kill in order to bring down the number to 40.

"If I may, Miss Hunter," Captain Boyd cut in, "I think the retards wouldn't pose as a significant loss."

"How politically incorrect of you Castor," Miss Ebony replied, "But still, you prove a point. Get out the remote."

Bones instantly knew who Boyd and Hunter were referring to, and it made his stomach tie itself in a knot with disgust. They were talking about Emma Silverman, who had downsyndrome, although it never seemed to hinder her that much, and Will Clark, who made up for being paralysed from the waist down by being a computer genius. Will was a scrawny kind of boy, his legs even skinnier than the rest of him, like limp strands of spaghetti that he always tried to take attention away from by wearing baggy cargopants. He wore fingerless gloves to avoid getting friction burns when wheeling himself around and his wheelchair was spraypainted red. Despite his affliction, he was usually healthy looking but he currently looked as pale as a sheet as if Ebony Hunter had bit her fangs into his neck and sucked out all the colour. Will was always an okay guy, his voice was a little nasally though, and he wasn't as socially developed as everybody else and liked to isolate himself by tapping away on his old laptop. In all aspects he was a normal guy who was a little geeky for his own good, with a pointed face and wirerimmed glasses. His brown hair was kept neat and tasteful, swept to the side and he had stopped wearing glasses in recent years in favour of contacts. He was finally coming out of his shell and now he was looking at being killed to boost ratings.

Emma Silverman on the other hand was a pleasant enough girl, she spoke with a lisp and was a little slow in replies, most people ignored it out of politeness and spoke to her like they would anybody else, as they had been told to by their teachers, but some whispered about either how funny or cute they found it, which was worse, Bones wasn't sure of. She was slightly chubby, not fat, but had some extra weight to throw around which stopped her from wearing flattering clothes due to her esteem issues. Her necklength blonde hair was kept in a neat bob and she wore wirerim glasses which made her face look smart. Upon hearing the conversation between her two main captors, Emma's eyes began to water and her mouth hung agape. She intertwined her stubby fingers and held them over her heart, sending creases through her graphic Breaking Dawn shirt. Emma was always a dreamer, as a kid it was about fairies and princesses, and as a teen it was about vampires and werewolves out to steal her heart. Now she was practically waiting for a bullet to tear through it instead.

"Wheels! Mongo! Get to the front of the class!" Miss Ebony snapped, motioning for them to come forwards, "Whilst I'm still young!"

"Pl-Pleathe!" Emma begged, "I don't want to die...I jutht...I want to go home!" Will stayed silent, his eyes screwed shut as he trembled, grabbing onto the wheels of his chair as if he may roll an extra milimeter by mistake and prompt Ebony to shoot him in the face just like she did to his teacher.

"Ha, don't make me laugh!" Captain Boyd barked, "Grovelling like a weakling is all that can be expected of your type!" And with that, he held up a little remote and pointed it at Emma and pressed down a button, as if she was a car he was trying to unlock. Emma's collar rang out with a little beep causing her to stumble backwards, surprised, she grabbed at it with both hands, as if the heat from them could deactivate the explosives, before turning around and facing her peers.

"Oh my god!" Chloe Hill cried, "You can't treat her like this, she's a human being!"

"Is she gonna blow?" Asked Jacob Garcia, his accent laced with a little Mexican. He was a lean and muscular guy with a shaved head and heavy eyebrows which he had cut lines through with a razor to look more intimidating, he had some facial hair growing at his chin, he had been trying to grow a goatee for years but it never got any longer than shadow. He wore a baggy grey wifebeater with baggy sweatpants that hung at his crotch, showing his white calvin kleins. He was from the crappier part of willowfield, and lived in a neigborhood mostly populated by latinos and hispanics, and as a result grew up constantly being taught harsh life lessons. He was never a bully to anybody, but it was all too clear he was a thug which caused most people to avoid him. Bones always respected Jacob in a small way, he thought they were a little similiar, it was just Jacob was into rap and hiphop and Bones into punk and heavy rock, their petty tastes didn't mix and neither did they.

"Yes, we've been through this before, cholo, the collars contain a lethal charge." Miss Ebony Hunter replied in a bored voice, before taking a seat perched on the edge of the desk.

"That's not right! That's not fucking right!" Jacob cried, standing up and pointing at Emma, and then to Will, "What? You going to blow his head off too?"

"Actually the viewers would like a little variety." Ebony replied, "So sit down or else we'll switch you and him around."

Emma had started crying as the flashing on her collar grew more intense until Bones thought it was just emitting light nontstop, and the beeping had gotten nearly so fast that it was just one high ringing sound. Everybody had cleared a wide circle around Emma, except for Will who had his back to her, quietly trembling as he waited for his own death to occur. Emma stumbled forwards, calling Will's name and tripped over one of her shoelaces, she made an attempt to grab onto the back of his chair but only succeeded in pushing it, causing the thing to roll for several feet. Falling to the ground, Emma grabbed her sprained wrist and scrambled onto her knees, the hot tears streamed freely down her red face. She looked around, scanning the ring of faces for any compassion, she found it in spades, sympathy also, but she knew nobody would help. What she did notice however, was Gerard von Gamma, the german transfer, with his flat face and blank complexion, with an even blanker face, watching her with little interest like a child being forced to sit through a dull assembly. He rarely spoke, but when he did it was deadpan and uninterested, just like Miss Ebony Hunter's, but unlike her seductive, sensual movements, he moved stiffly, almost robotic - constantly stoic. "What ith wrong with you!" Emma cried, just as her collar detonated.

As everybody raised their hands as makeshift umbrellas, trying to shield themselves from the spray of blood and hot collarparts, none of them had realised that Emma was addressing only one of them. They all lowered their hands in unison and looked at her body, face down on the ground, her usually neat bob was dishevelled and the tips were stained red with blood, her arms and legs were limp like noodles, however one of her fingers on her left hand was still twitching as if pulling the trigger on an invisible gun. The puddle of blood beneath her face slowly expanded across the plastic floor before reaching her cracked glasses with lay abandoned three feet away from her body. Everybody was murmuring with fear and sorrow, quick, desperate breathing and people letting out sobs. Somebody else vomited this time in some dark corner of the room, grabbing their gut in pain. Sitting on the desk and looking relatively unimpressed, Miss Ebony Hunter sighed, flicked her black hair back and looked down at the body one last time before transferring her stare to Will Clark, who had begun crying in his chair, burying his face in his hands.

**GiRL #14 eMMa SiLVeRMaN - eLiMiNaTeD**

"Castor, you and I can't have all the fun." She said flatly, "Let one of your men do the cripple in, and make it quick, it's almost midnight."

"Private Henry, get out your sidearm." Was all that Captain Boyd had said, addressing one of the soldiers, the one who lowered his rifle and removed a heavy looking handgun was muscular and athletic, like all the rest, and had dark skin, possibly African-American, he gave a snotty looking sneer to the soldier next to him indicating that he may have been the Captain's Pet.

"THIS IS FOR EMMA MAN!" Roared Jacob Garcia, pulling out a razorsharp switchblade and throwing it with an eerie sense of expertise at Captain Boyd, the knife seemed to rotate in the air like it did in kung fu movies right before taking out a ninja henchman, but instead, Boyd easily sidestepped it allowing the knife to slice through the projector screen and embed itself in the board, sending out a cloud of dust and chalk. The projector screen began to roll itself up at lightning speed, the knife, impaled to the board, neatly cut the screen in half with one neat slash, the end of the screen hit the metal tube with a loud snapping sound and both halves of the screen flapped awkardly, as if trying to blow raspberries at the soldiers standing in front of it. Less than a nanosecond had passed after the screen snapped up when Jacob found himself unarmed, looking down the barrel of fourteen guns.

He barely had time to gulp before Private Henry's sidearm fired a hot bullet into his shoulder, causing his arm to burn briefly before losing all feeling and hanging like a useless ragdoll limb. The second shot belonged to Miss Ebony Hunter, coming from the same silver plated revolver that had killed Mr Phillips, the bullet struck him on the collar bone on the opposite side of the chest making him twirl in an almost dance like fashion. He found his foot falling on Emma's dead arm and he found himself losing his balance, before being blasted to the floor by eleven heavy rifle blasts, they blew chunks through his thighs, buried their way into his gut, tore through the muscle of his biceps, took a portion of flesh out from this neck and shattered his ribs. Gunsmoke filled the room and there was the sound of screams and shuffling as all the other surviving students (minus Will) dove to the floor and rolled behind overturned chairs and desks for cover. Laying on the floor, full of holes, losing pints of blood with every breath and looking like a piece of roadkill, Jacob barely had the energy to empty his mouth of all the blood that was filling up in it. Somewhere, through all the burning agony, numbess and pain he managed to lift his head and look over at the captors in the clearing cloud of gunsmoke.

"Fuck you assh-"

His last will and testament was cut abruptly short by the final bullet, fired by the man whom he had tried to kill in the first place, went through one of his cheekbones, shattering his face in the process, and blasting open the back of his head as if it had been made out of plasticine rather than bone. Brain and bone fragments splattered the plastic for several meters in one long line leading to the ruined mess of Jacob's head, the face, if it weren't for the white of several bone fragments and loose teeth, looking as if somebody had smashed a cherry pie into it. The soldiers lowered their rifles whilst Private Henry, Miss Ebony Hunter and Captain Castor Boyd holstered their respective sidearms and revolvers. One final person vomited onto the plastic floor whilst some people were shocked to discover that some flecks of gore had made it onto their skin and seeped into their clothes. "Well, it seems we got rid of two retards after all." Miss Ebony Hunter said cruelly, tearing open the red envelope she had picked up earlier, "Off you go, Wheels, consider yourself lucky."

**BoY #10 JaCoB GaRCia - eLiMiNaTeD**

"It's real, it's all fucking real." Scarlett mumbled, her face scared, perhaps even more pretty in it's vulnerability than it had ever done before. Bones held her tight, and lightly pushed her head into his chest, whispering into her ear that looking at the bodies would only make things worse. He laid his chin on her head before remembering that it was wounded from the collision with the wall, and looked in a different direction, wiping a couple of droplets of blood from his chin. He'd always known who Scarlett was, afterall, they'd been in the same class for a pretty long while now, it was just that the two had never really had a reason to talk to each other. Sure, he'd always liked her a little bit, but he liked lots of girls, and although the girls of lorelei high were mostly prude and uppity, there were plenty of girls at the punk parties he went to that liked him. But holding her now, he regretted that this was their senior year and he had never even spoken to her for more than ten words before that, which seemed weird because their two bodies pressed against each other against the wall seemed oddly warm and familiar. "What will become of us?" She asked.

"Okay, the lucky person to get a headstart is girl 12, Kennedy Smith." Ebony Hunter said, putting the paper back into the envelope and dropping it back to the ground, "Yes you, now grab a bag and get lost."

Kennedy slowly got to her feet, her knees wobbling like a newborn cow trying to take its first steps. She ambled over to the trolley full of bags, constantly peering over her shoulder towards her friends, Alexis, Courtney, Jessica and Ariana, as if seeking their approval in complying with Miss Ebony Hunter's demands. Kennedy was a rich preppy girl, Bones didn't talk to her that much, but what conversations of hers he had listened in on were about expensive clothing labels, yearbook photos and the country club she and her parents attended. Kennedy had coffee brown hair kept in a prim sideponytail, and as usual she was wearing a diamond patterned sweatervest over a plain polo, along with a plaid skirt and some expensive looking flats with little gold buckles on them. She was slow in selecting her bag from the trolley, as if worried that one sudden movement would cause the whole mountain of bags to bury her in an avalanche, she finally took one from near the top, hugged it like a bear and rushed out the door. Two minutes passed by slowly.

"Boy 13, Ethan Jackson." Ebony said.

Ethan was one of the few black guys in school, and definitely the only black male in class. He could be funny at the best of times, but had a reputation as being a bit of a jerk, as some of the more arrogant white guys liked to pick on him and make stereotypical comments, alhough in Bones's opinion, Ethan's dress sense and taste in music warranted it. Ethan often spoke in slang, and under the baseball cap he kept turned sideways he wore a black doorag, other than that all he wore was a baggy white shirt, even baggier sweats and near immaculate white sneaks. He approached the trolley with forced swagger, as if trying to prove a point, but the expression of superiority and levelheadedness on his face was false. He flipped the rest of his peers the bird as he left. Two minutes passed slowly.

"Girl 13, Scarlett Lovelace." Ebony said.

"What!" Scarlett cried, looking up at Bones.

"You heard me! Shift it!" Ebony said sourly.

Scarlett grabbed Bones's hand tightly, and their eyes locked. Her face was scared but she tried to regain herself by biting down her lips before talking, "Look, I know we've only known each other for a few hours now but...Please, I just...I just..."

"Don't worry, as soon as you get outside, rinse the wound on your head with a little water and find a good hiding spot overlooking the doors." Bones whispered, "I don't know when my name will be called, but I'll look after you, okay? Now go."

Scarlett nodded and got to her feet, she brushed her cherry red hair to one side and held on tightly to a pendant that was hanging around her neck, she pulled a bag from the trolley with one hand and gave a tearful look at Bones. She glanced down at the two bloody corpses and ran a hand down the front of her tight indigo corset, stopping at her stomach to quell the rising nausea. She quickly turned and sauntered out the room, zipping up her black hoodie as she went. Two minutes passed.

The next three to leave were Daisuke Ando A.K.A. Boy 14, Andrew Scott A.K.A. Boy 15 and Lily Nelson A.K.A. Girl 15. Daisuke was quiet and solitary, which seemed strange given his usual social self, but given the situation, it was understandable. He was reluctant to get his pack, standing there above the two bodies and running a hand through his wild, toffee hair, as he took the bag, Ebony Hunter smirked and told him to "Make Sakura proud" as he walked out the door. Andrew Scott consoled his crying girlfriend, Ariana Lewis, in a similar fashion as Bones did to Scarlett. Andrew took the bag, and in a sporting fashion, saluted his peers before running out the door. Lily Nelson didn't pay any particular attention to anybody, flicking her curly black hair over one shoulder as if trying to emulate Miss Ebony, Lily always had a dramatic flair, and most unsettling of all, she grabbed the expensive fabric of her fluttery black skirt and gave the cameras a graceful courtsey before exiting stage left.

After them, the next three were Tristan Roberts A.K.A. Boy 16, Chloe Hill A.K.A. Girl 16 and Michael Adams A.K.A. Boy 17. Tristan's sleek hair was dyed, the roots a deep brown fading into bleached blonde at the tips, and the whole thing had a messy look with no effort, which for some reason, Tristan spent a lot of time and a lot of hairgel to get it that way. Tristan was stylish, goodlooking and effeminate, and whilst this made him popular with some of the girls, it only gave his tormentors more ammunition to pepper him with, as if being gay wasn't simply enough. He fought back the tears as he took his bag, tucked it under one arm and gave his best friend Sydney a thumbs up. Chloe left in a dignified fashion, standing straight and walking tall, she picked up a bag, weighed it for a moment, and threw it on the ground, then, wiping her hands on her smart dress pants as if she had just touched something dirty, she marched out the room with her nose stuck in the air. Michael practically ran straight to the trolley, nearly tripping over his expensive italian loathers, scuffing them in the process. He skidded to a halt at the trolley and stood there for a small eternity, biting the nails on one hand as he pointed from bag to bag with his other finger, trying to make the logical choice, Miss Ebony told him to take two bags from the top and leave, and he looked almost comical, so skinny and frail carrying two bulging sacks.

One of the soldiers handed the heavily pregnant (and huge) Molly Carter (A.K.A. Girl 17) the bag that Chloe had dropped on the floor, before sending her on her way. She looked around, her tanned and trashily madeup face worried as hugged the olive coloured pack like a giant carnival teddybear. She quickly waddled out the room, as if rushing to the maternity ward. After her were the #18's, the smug jock, Logan Turner who took his bag with a cocky smile on his face before saying "Asta la vista, ladies!" and leaving, carrying a bag in one hand and his letterman jacket over his shoulder with the other. His female counterpart, Destiny King, was far less confident in her exit to the island, the aspiring (and failing) socialite tottered over the plastic floor in her heels, clumsily yanked a big bag from near the middle of the pile (probably assuming it had a better weapon) and as a result caused a half dozen to fall down, which she she quickly dodged with a shrill scream and fell onto her butt, she scrambled the rest of the way to the door on her knees, survival pack in one hand and bootlegged purse in the other, and finally managed to make it to her feet before being jabbed out the door by the end of Private Henry's rifle.

Ryan Thompson A.K.A. Boy 19, and the big man on campus, took one of the bags that spilled from the floor, and whipping it up from the ground, it carved an arc through the air before hitting his back with a loud snap, he practically ran out the room, but not in a cowardly fashion, athletic and admirable, with just the right ammount of gusto to convey the sense that he would not be a force to be reckoned with. Girl 19, Maya Martinez followed, the hispanic had a solemn look on her tanned face, as she headed to get her bag, she tied her choppy black hair up in a high ponytail, scooped a bag up with her foot, kneed it into the air and caught it with one hand, gaining an impressed look from Captain Boyd whereas Ebony didn't seem to notice nor care, Maya used to be a sporty, popular girl who played soccer, but above all she used to be a tomboy. Now that she'd grown up and gotten pretty, she had a bad reputation as a slut simply because she liked to hang around with boys, whether or not the rumours were true, Bones did not know or care. The two were followed by Jack Martin, A.K.A. Boy 20, who with his acne, curly jew afro, thick glasses and heavy body, hardly posed much of a threat socially, but now, Bones couldn't help whether or not the Dungeons and Dragons addict would look at his current predicament as one big strategy game in order to exact revenge on the kids who had bullied him.

Rounding the student roster off was Ariana Lewis, A.K.A. Girl 20, followed by the #21's, Dylan Miller and Madison Lee. Ariana looked as if she had just watched fifty holocaust movies in a loop, as her face was positively wet with tears and the makeup she had carefully put on that morning was running down her cheeks in multicolored streams. She was slow and zombielike in her walk, and her long curls hung down over her shoulders, and if it wasn't for her headband, they'd hang over her face too making her look like the girl from the ring movies. After taking her bag, she scurried out like a frightened squirrel, probably into the arms of her boyfriend, Andrew, who was probably waiting for her. Dylan Miller kept itching at his nose as he left, aching for some more drugs, he looked around with bloodshot eyes as if somebody had just called his name, but nobody had, he ran a hand through his mop of greasy hair and took the bag before clumsily running out the door. Madison Lee wiped a tear out of her eye, looking at the trail of blood going in and out of the room which had been left by the transportation of the teachers corpse, folding her arms over her oldfashioned tartan pinafore and shaking her head, it took the clicking of several sidearms removing their safety to prompt her to pick up a bag and leave, bawling like a toddler.

Hoping he'd be let out to find Scarlett soon, Bones watched with a pained expression on his face as the people at the beginning of the roster began to leave. The #1's were Josh Wilson and Courtney Jones, Josh was groggy, rubbing his eyes as if he hadn't fully shaken off the effects of the sleeping gas, he was a lonely boy who didn't have many friends but he didn't seem too bitter about it, he just got on with each day by ignoring people and falling asleep in class, shutting the world out. He dragged his bag across the floor as he left, as if his lack of enthusiasm was about the slaughterhouse he was walking into, but simply because he was being made to walk. Courtney Jones had more grace, naturally, as she was the resident beauty queen, and not just socially, she competed in numerous pageants each year since she was a kid, sure, she was drop dead gorgeous, but in those rare moments when you'd catch her without makeup, like right after gym, she just looked tired, sad, stressed and most of all, several years older than she was. Some tears were beginning to melt away at her pretty mask as she left, carrying the bag with one arm, letting it sag over one side as if it were a huge bouquet or roses.

Following the #1's were the #2's, the similarily mismatched Gabriel Rodriquez and Lauren Davis. Gabriel was another football player, but noticeably less frictional than Logan and less status obsessed than Ryan, Gabriel was probably the best looking of the five football players put into the game, and didn't everybody know it. Gabriel was probably the most crushed on guy in school, although he tried to not let it get to his head, he sometimes came off with the same big ego mentality as a singer in a vaguely popular boyband or a shirtless model outside a hollister store. He accepted the situation shakily, and looked uncomfortable as he left the room with his bag. Lauren Davis was pale, slim and wore dark colours like the grunger girls from the late 90's and early 2000's, she approached the bags hugging herself, casting a dramatic look over her shoulder, as she took her bag she quickly trotted out the room, one hand on her beret to keep it in place. Following them was Gerard von Gamma, A.K.A. Boy #3, the transfer from germany who had been at lorelei high for around three months now, with his blonde hair, blue eyes and athletic figure, he would be considered attractive, but his features were flat and dull looking, painfully average, he had no interesting marks on his skin and Bones sometimes thought he looked like a mannequin. He approached the bags with a wooden gait and left, calmly, as if not interested or panicked at all.

Following the strange athlete/beatnik/transfer trio was one of Bones's few friends in the class, Abby White (A.K.A. Girl 3). She was often in a sour mood, and when she wasn't mad she was flat and sarcastic, she used to have skin problems in the earlier years which led to the unpopular nickname 'Scabby Abby' which still follows her around til this day. She peered at Bones through her dark bangs, before looking back over at Matt Taylor, the guy who completed Bones's trio of buddies. Abby picked up the bag with a sour expression, and dug her untidy black nails into it as if she was afraid somebody was going to take it away from her, she was quiet and angry as she left the room, grinding her teeth as Emma and Jacob's blood seeped into the soles of her converse hitops. Luckily, right after Abby left, Matt Taylor was declared Boy 4, so he could probably catch up with her on the way out. Unlike Bones, who was into punk, and Abby who digged heavy metal, Matt was a classic rocker, and nobody could convince him to listen to anything else. He wore his hair like a greaser from the 50's and always had a bandshirt on, but unlike Bones, he never tore or frayed it, he always kept them neat, as if preserving them as tributes to the rock gods. He nodded at Bones as he left, as he got to the door he paused for a moment and turned before saying, "Cheer up assholes. This only the end of the world if you let it be." and he quickly left.

Another odd group ventured out onto the island, consisting of sultry aspiring journalist Jessica Thomas (A.K.A. Girl 4), the social outcast and resident anime fan Danny Anderson (A.K.A. Boy 5) and the near morbidly obese butch lesbian Morgan Robinson (A.K.A. Girl 5). Jessica wiped some tears onto the slave of her blazer, slowly approaching the trolley and blindly grabbing the nearest bag by it's strap, she hoisted it up onto her shoulder like a handbag and walked out, pulling her short, highwaisted skirt down as if she had realised that now was not the time to be dressed as if she was appearing in a boss and his secretary porno. Danny Anderson rushed to the trolley and nearly fell over, causing the oldfashioned gameboy he wore around his neck to swing upwards and clobber him in the cheekbone, giving a slight wail, he turned on his heel grabbed a bag and pulled it into his navel before trying to run out the room, skidding on some spreading blood in the process. Morgan Robinson was decidedly more cool than the others, approaching the trolley full of bags with all the swagger and gait of a badass approaching a bunch of jerks in a tavern or roadhouse before beating the tar out of them, she lifted the bag up with one of her strong arms and stared down at her peers through her aviator sunglasses, she lifted the bag above her head like a trophy, shook it once and then squeezed through the door.

Jamie Green and Sydney Moore (A.K.A. The #6's) left swiftly after Morgan. Jamie, a hippie and pacifist unzipped his bag and examined the contents right after picking it up, immediately all guns were pointed at him and Bones was worried that Jamie would go the same way as Jacob did over an hour before. Captain Castor Boyd began shouting at Jamie Green to leave or else he'll be shot, and that if he so much as removes his weapon he'll personally blast his head off. Jamie kept a cool composure and held his bag up to Ebony Hunter, told her to remove the handgun inside, and give it to the person who left after him. She held the gun by the barrel, tapping at the desk rhythmically with her free hand. She handed it to the hipster, Sydney, who with her thickrimmed glasses and corduroy shorts held up with suspenders, looked a little clownish in Bones's on personal opinion. Sydney looked down at the gun in her hand and gulped, wiping the sweat from her brow with her free hand, she slowly left the room, peering cautiously over her shoulder.

The apparently peaceful duo were followed by Boy #7, Alex Baker, who usually spent his time in class with a bored, glazed over expression on his face or if seated next to an idiot, slipping them passive aggressive insults and asking them the answers to equations. Alex used to be bullied a lot in middle school, so he was naturally sour nowadays, and he usually kept to himself, according to Matt Taylor, Alex was a hardcore gamer, complete with a custombuilt chair with a speaker set build into the wings and a hitech headset. Alex took a bag and winked at Ebony as he left, who didn't appear to notice, and was instead examining a loose button on her purple silk blouse. Alex was followed by Girl #7, Layla Brown, she approached the trolley and attempted to take three at once, but was told to put them down. Layla was always greedy, desperate too, she'd always try to sell her cigarettes during lunchbreak so she could afford some food without having to wash dishes, and she was always borrowing money from her friends without paying back. When she whined at Captain Boyd about how it was unfair that she couldn't take Emma and Jacob's bags because they were dead, Ebony cut in and told her, "There were always only 40 bags you dumb redneck bitch." Defeated, Layla skulked out the room kicking a bag across the floor in her cheap, baggy jogging outfit.

The undesirable duo were followed by #8's, football player Mason Harris and head cheerleader Alexis Williams, and despite both being athletes, the two couldn't have been more different. Mason was whitetrash, and like Layla he lived in a trailerpark on the outskirts of town, he was solely relying on the chance of a football scholarship to go to college, and he often said that if he did get one, he'd be the first Harris to get a diploma. He was generally a warm and funny guy, a regular class clown, but right now he didn't seem very happy, snapping up his bag and running out with a forlorn look on his freckled face. Alexis Williams had a reputation as being a snob, whilst the head cheerleader was supposed to do the most difficult stunts and be the centerpiece of each performance, Alexis wasn't, she wasn't as skilled as the rest of the team she so bossily commanded, and only had that position because her mother, a wealthy wasp type, bribed the cheerleading coach. Alexis was also the queen bee, and commanded girls like Courtney, Jessica, Kennedy and Arianna as her minions. She picked up a bag and held it far from her cheer uniform as if she was worried it would dirty the thing up as she marched out the room. They were followed by Boy #9, Will Clark whose face was red and puffy, slick from tears that had long since stopped flowing. He kept the bag on his lap as he wheeled himself out, and Captain Boyd jokingly said, "Heh. We should have installed one of those ramps."

A 9, 10 and 11 were next, the extremely introverted biblebasher Grace Johnson, science honor roll student and goth Bella Mitchell and football player-cum-car mechanic Nick Devito. Grace looked shrunken in her overly baggy cardigan, holding her crucifix with one hand, quietly mumbling a prayer as she fingered her rosary beads with the other. She took a bag gingerly, as if it may be redhot, she slowly put it over her shoulders then grabbed her crucifix, resumed her prayer, and wandered out of the room like a ghost. Bella had a serious look on her pretty face standing still on the spot as if debating whether or not she should grab a bag and risk her neck on the island, or just have herself put out of her misery, she looked down at the corpse of Emma Silverman and winced, grabbing her collar lightly, she picked up one bag and marched out the room, her black satin skirt swishing around her knees as her heavy boots stomped on the floor. Nick licked his lips before standing up, a debated look on his nearly tanned-orange face as he examined the bags, trying to determine which one would have a good weapon based on the shape the objects inside made them, when his name was called again he hurried back over, took one, ran his palm down his face being careful not to disturb his immaculately gelled hair and walked quickly out the door.

Girl #11 Hannah Allen was called up to the front, the bleached blonde, airheaded scene girl tried to make a decision on which of the last two bags she should pick, she finally decided on the one on the left and bent down to pick it up, sticking her butt up in the air gaining some lusty stares from the soldiers who could see up her incredibly short skirt. She picked the bag up, looked around as if she was about to cross a busy street, and her heavily made up eyes met Bones's, who quickly diverted his own glance. The bleached mess that was Hannah scampered out the room like a rabbit heading back to its burrow. Not needing to be called Bones stood up, and caught the last of the bags that was aggressively tossed towards him by Private Henry. He caught with both hands, lowered it and looked over at the soldiers with narrowed eyes.

"If you got something to say, hardass, you best say it now." Ebony Hunter said, twiddling her black hair around one finger, "And make it interesting, I'm bored."

Ignoring her, Bones walked over to the door, clutching the bag, trying to get a feel of what the weapon might be. He needed to get outside and find Scarlett fast, she's been outside for over two hours now and right near the school, who knows how well she hid herself, she may be laying in a ditch somewhere, dead. As he got to the doorframe, Bones turned and stared at Ebony, then Captain Boyd.

"Change your mind?" Ebony asked, looking him up and down with probing eyes.

"Yeah, I'll see you all in hell." Bones said, and lifted one hand, forming a gun with his fingers, and shot himself through the temple, complete with a whoosh of air coming from his mouth. With a smile, he slowly stepped away backwards before turning and heading down the corridor. He passed by another classroom which was emitting a static glow, he peered in as he ran past and saw that it was full of screens on desks and hanging from walls, and even just set standing on top of each other in the corner, the floor a mess of wires and cables as if somebody had exploded some giant party poppers. He checked the inside of his bag as his walking increased in speed, pulling out an army knife, long and slightly curved at the end, with nasty teeth running up the lower part of the blade, tucking the knife into his studded belt, he pushed open the swinging doors and disappeared into the night.

_**NoW THaT You HaVe GoNe iNTo THe DaRKNeSS...ReaD aND ReView!**_


	5. THe FiRST FiGHT!

**[THe SToRY iS BeST ReaD iN WHiTe oN BLaCK + THe FoNT aRiaL]**

**ReaD oNWaRDS iF You DaRe...**

The sky was as black as the darkest of inks, and the web of grey, stirring clouds above made it tought for the little sprinkling of stars to shine through. Through the racing winds, thick clouds and silvery mist that was rolling off of the cold waters surrounding the island, the moon was nearly hidden from sight, and even though it managed to shine down on the island, it looked grey and polluted. Tall spiky conifer trees covered the rocky, marshy island, shaking gently in the wind as if trying to ward off the biting cold air. The dirt and grass beneath your feet was moist, and if you weren't careful, it was probably slick enough to make somebody trip over if they weren't paying attention. Scarlett Lovelace was crouching, poised behind a dark bush that she was sure was full of nasty, clicking insects and spiderwebs, looking around from her vantage point, she could see a good deal of the island and she was pretty sure the whole damn rock had a halloween vibe. She shivered in the cold winds, drawing her black leather jacket tighter around her cold frame, normally the heat from her skin would become trapped in the leather, radiating her, but in the cold winds it didn't seem to work as it usually did.

She had sat up on the steep, bushy hill for quite a while, keeping her balance so she wouldn't fall and impale herselves on the sharp, jutting rocks below, she had the perfect view of the school building, and although she was high above it, she wasn't sure whether or not she was still in the same zone, at her angle the distance made her perspective a bit confused. Stroking back her cherry red hair and holdings the hands over her ears which were so numb they felt as if they were about to fall off, Scarlett bit down on her lip, getting some makeup on her white teeth. She had watched over thirty different people leave through the square doors on the front of the building below, they all stopped in the field in front of the school, standing on the cracked concrete with weeds growing through the jagged lines, where the roundabout, swings and seesaw teetered and creaked menacingly in the wind. They stood in this scary minute, some for a few seconds, some for nearly a whole minute, all of them checking their maps first to see where to go. Some went left, down into the wooded valley which ended with the wooden hunts of the shanty town, arranged in a crescent shape around the skeletal looking docks and piers over the black water, whilst others headed right into the thicker trees and hills, getting lost in the maze of shadows.

Beyond the school were some more woods, but beyond those gentle slopes and plains of overgrown grass leading to some cliffs, on those plains were the tall, twisted ruins of a partially bulldozed mansion, a formerly grand house that was now nothing more than frames, supports and crumbling walls, surrounding by piles and piles of rubble and rotting furniture. Directly behind the hill that Scarlett was on were some woods, less thick and confusing than the ones to the right of the school, and here and there dotted amongst the trees were lodges and cabins of the people that used to live there, eventually it all led out to a grey beach, covered in pebbles and rocks. Everything seemed to smell of dirt, mold and salt, and Scarlett had not felt one bit of warmth since leaving, and began to miss the intense heat of the room where she had watched two of her classmates get murdered. The only positive thing about her current situation was that Scarlett was far away from the monsters inside the schoolbuilding, and even further away from the stink of death.

She squeezed her eyes, looking down the hill (maybe even a mountain, Scarlett couldn't tell) and saw a girl leave the building, the girls white blonde hair seemed to light up like a torch in the glow of the light pouring out of the school, although she became a silvery blur once she got into the darkness. She was pretty sure that it had been Hannah Allen, the girl was sort of pretty, not as much as she seemed to think of herself as, but still decent looking nonetheless, even before her radical makeover she was still blonde, and a dumb one at that, Scarlett remembered that Hannah still believed in things like the easter bunny and santa claus up until her sophomore year, and once she found out the truth, it was then that she became moody and tried to turn emo to cope with the harsh new world she had discovered. In Scarlett's own opinion, Hannah was a dimwit, and her transformation into emo was pitiful, bleaching your hair an even more shocking shade of blonde, blowing it up and ironing your bangs didn't express your inner darkness, and dressing up like a neon rainbow did not make you appear serious about your disdain with the world either. Hannah was a scenester, something Scarlett hated, however there was only one good thing, Hannah was the second-to-last person to leave, which meant that there was only one person left, and unless he had already left before and Scarlett missed him, this person had to be Bones.

Still stiff from the cold, Scarlett willed herself to stand and edged her way around the bush, scooting herself down the steep slope on her butt, using her hands and her feet to make the descent as slow and safe as possible. Sending down little pebbles and tiny flakes of debris with each movement, Scarlett was glad to be emo and fond of the color black, because if she had worn anything else as she climbed down the side of the hill in plain sight of everything, she would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Getting closer to the building, she could see Bones's athletic figure coming down the hallway and getting closer to the doors, and now that she had gotten to a less steep bit of the hill, she stood up and in a crouch, began scurrying down slightly faster, dragging her olive survival backpack down with her. Bones finally emerged at the steps and was looking around, he looked up at the hill and saw Scarlett who waved anxiously, causing him to wave back, Scarlett smiled, feeling safe at last as she descended the last few meters into some dark bushes. Happy to be reunited with who may very well be a crush she had never anticipated, Scarlett failed to notice the bulging and unhealthy figure of somebody else climbing up onto the roof of the school building.

**...**

"Stop right there!" Shouted the angry voice of Abby White, as she pointed a pale finger at the cherryhaired girl who was rushing across the playground to Bones Walker.

"Wait...What!" Bones exclaimed as he descened the rickety stairs of the wooden porch, watching as his old friends Abby and Matt quickly darted from their hiding place in the trees to directly between Scarlett and himself.

"As far as we're all aware, this chick could be dangerous!" Matt snapped, defending the actions of Abby as he drew a switchblade from the inside of his backpack.

"You have it all wrong!" Scarlett protested, lifting up both of her hands in defense, "I wasn't trying to kill him or any-"

"Friend or foe!" Abby shouted, clenching her hands into fists.

"Is this really necessary?" Bones asked, shoving past the pair to place his arm around Scarlett's shoulder, "Can't you see that she's just as scared as us?"

"Friend or foe!" Abby repeated, crossing her arms over her hoodie, which had black and red stripes on it. She began tapping her foot against the ground impatiently, as if Scarlett's presence was nothing more than an annoyance.

"Well the only foe here seems to be you." Scarlett snapped, giving Abby a hostile look, she turned and hugged Bones tightly around his athletic frame, burying her face into his shoulder.

"Wow, she's got your number Abby." Matt said with a grin, tucking his switchblade into the pocket of his 50's leather jacket and taking out a comb to run through his greased pompadour.

"See?" Bones asked, "Scarlett's cool, I was talking to her on the bus. She's just like us, so you better not try to spook her."

"If you love her so much, Bones," Abby started in a patronising voice, "Maybe the two of you should drop out of school like you always planned and elope to Mexico!"

"Oh grow up you bitch!" Scarlett shot, giving Abby an accusatory glare.

"Do NOT make me kick your ass, red." Abby retorted, she glanced over her shoulder at Matt who was smirking and probably wishing for a catfight, "Besides, I guess if you're part of your group you have to play by our rules. Everybody get out your weapons."

Not seeing any flaw with Abby's statement, both Scarlett and Bones removed their weapons from their bags, as did Abby. Everybody had already seen the switchblade that Matt had been issued, and it was quickly put to shame by the large, serrated combat knife that Bones raised to show the group. Scarlett looked into her bag, and with a groan of disappointment, she pulled out a simple dinner fork, held it limply as if it was an unsatisfactory birthday present and dropped it back into her backpack. Abby was the last to reveal her weapon, a pot lid, which despite having already seen it before, still caused Matt to crack up and laugh, meriting him a jab from Abby's elbow in return. Now that everybody seemed to be aqquainted, they stood in a circle in front of the school, arms crossed and jackets and hoodies tightly zipped or buttoned up to defend themselves against the cold.

"What do we do now?" Scarlett asked, "I don't think this is a wise idea, but we do need to find a roof to put over our heads if we want to survive the weather alone."

Nodding in agreement, Matt Taylor put his comb back into the pocket of his vintage leather jacket, and for once an intelligent expression formed on his usually tanned, goofy face. "That's a good point, and I do agree with you but don't you think that's what everybody else is going to be doing? Sure, we could run into somebody friendly, but what if it's a psycho like that Gerard kid?"

"We should probably rule out the town by the docks." Abby said flatly, "We saw lots of people heading that way, there are probably some fights going on now. A place that populated isn't safe given the current situation. We should probably try to find a cabin in the woods, one of the ones closer to the beach, because I think all of the ones closest to the school will already be occupied."

"There's an old ranger station inbetween that area and the really thick woods to the right, I don't think it should be longterm, but it's a good look out point and there's probably a radio and some medical supplies, possibly some flares too. We should really check that place out first before we settle down, or else we'll regret it later." Bones said wisely, peering off into the woods with a vacant stare.

"So should probably get going." Scarlett said enthusiastically, starting to feel the cold, she was shifting from foot to foot, her high heels of her leather knee highs tapping against the cracked concrete.

"I'll be the navigator," Matt said, "So I'll go up front, trust me, I never get lost, ever."

"Abby, if you take Matt's switchblade, you and me can take the rear," Bones said, pointing with a smirk at her ineffective potlid, before noticing that she didn't seem to have noticed what he had said, "Wait...What are you looking at?"

"There's some fat guy standing on the roof." Abby replied.

**...**

Jack Martin looked down at the four figures beneath him with a look of hatred and disgust, his mind long since disturbed from years of bullying and torment, his meek and awkward persona was swiftly destroyed by the sight of three very bloody bodies in such a quick time, and for some unknown psychological reason, his very being was taken over by the character and personality whom he idolised and turned to frequently in the years to cope with the dissapointment with his life as a geek. He was no longer Jack Martin, the fat kid who was always chosen last for the team in gym class, or the ugly boy with spots and glasses who wouldn't get a date to prom and he wasn't the poorly dressed, curly haired loser that did well in academics and little else. The only silver lining to this strange and confusing cloud was that in some twisted way, Jack Martin had found confidence and power that he had always wished for, just not in a way that anybody else had anticipated.

He was now Rowan Stormforge, the noble yet powerful ranger and adventure who bravely explored new lands and survived in the wilderness, the hero who lived on the treasures and gold he took from haunted dungeons and saved villagers from brutish werewolves, firebreathing dragons and spectral sorcerors. Gripping tightly onto his trusty crossbow of which he had slain numerous beasts and demons, he stared down like a sniper from the roof of the satanic fortress he had just escaped at the strong looking orc with his tribal piercings and battle scars, the slick and the hypnotic vampire with the glowing eyes, the shaggy haired witch in the flowing black cape and the flame-haired harpy with the razor sharp talons. He did not see four classmates who wished to simply survive the horrible situation that had been thrown over them like a bucket of acid, but instead four wild beasts that needed to be taken down for the good of the land and the safety of it's civilians.

Getting to his full height, he stood above them on the awning of the roof, tall and proud, a true champion to the people but a force to be reckoned with for the monsters with evil in their heart. His voice rang out with strength and wisdom, compelling yet fearsome at the same time as he said the last words these four pitiful beasts would ever hear in their dark and twisted lives. "THOU HATH STOLEN ENOUGH LIVES FOUL MONSTERS, AND THOU MUST PAYETH FOR THEIR EVIL MISDEEDS!" Gaining the attention of the four demons, one of them began hissing foully at him, as if trying to barter with him to turn and leave, "YOUR HYPNOTIC WORDS DO NOT WORK ON ME, DEMONIC BEAST, PREPARETH FOR DEATH BY THY ARROWS!" And with that, Rowan Stormforge aimed and fired four successive shots quickly and with relative expertise, afterall, he had been a saviour of the lands for a very long time. With a sly smile, the heroic ranger loaded up his crossbow that had been blessed by the elven priestesses of casltevania and prepared of the killing strike.

He watched with glee as the four beasts panicked, unprepared for their swift execution. The orc, vampire and harpy, all unnatural creatures of some bizaare magic and mutations had naturally survived the first barrage of arrows unscathed, however the witch, a mere practioner spellcasting and devious trickery had been hit, the raw evil of her enchantments had probably weakened her body as much as they had deformed her haggish face. The powerful enchantments bestowed upon his arrows by the mysterious Shadowsoul tribe of the ember forests were probably working out as very painful for the witch, the evil-seeking poison within the arrowhead meant that not only did she lose 10 HP from the actual strike, but the arrow would proceed to sap away another 15HP over time, with nearly a quarter of her lifeforce diminished, the witch would be a sitting duck for the timebeing until she jinxed herself into a recovery, meaning that Rowan could focus on the beasts instead.

The vampire, in a strange act of humanity, made an attempt to dash over to the fallen witch, probably in an attempt to heal her with his unnatural blood, but he quickly gave up the attempt when one of the Shadowsoul arrows embedded itself in the ground between the two. Rowan Stormforge did not care however, the vampire was still a monster, in fact, that moment may have been one of the rare times when Rowan was mistaken, the vampire was probably only after the witches blood so he could gain her magical properties and become stronger. This time, Rowan turned his attention to the harpy, with her vast leathery wings, she was a threat with the ability of flight, so exterminating her would be wise. Watching the enthralling face of dark beauty contort itself into a demonic war-mask, Rowan watched as the dumb wench was quickly sent back to the ground after launching her attack as an arrow tore away a portion of her scaled face. Giving out an earsplitting scream that could kill a mortal, the beast shielded her face with her giant batwings and fled into the woods.

**...**

"Matt!" Bones roared, turning his attention back to the manic fat kid on the roof, "Go get Scarlett and bring her to the place we discussed, do it now!"

It was hard enough seeing the teacher die, even worse watching Jacob and Emma being put down like animals, and now somebody who Bones had probably never even spoken to was hurting his friends, first Abby who had been hit through the arm and was now clutching the bleeding wound and screaming, and then Scarlett whose ethereal gothlike beauty had been marred by an arrow slashing her cheek. Watching Matt do a running jump to dodge an arrow that should have got him through the calf, Bones turned and ran over to Abby, who was already staggering back to her feet. Grabbing Abby by the shoulder, she shrugged it off, her bangs obscuring her pale face, the blood was seeping through the sleeve of her hoodie, making her wet to the touch. Moving her bangs with one limp hand, Abby made eye contact with Bones, revealling that not one tear had fallen down her face, making Bones proud in an odd way of how far his friend, "Scabby Abby" had grown and matured. He could only hope that Matt had done the same, and had not let him down by failing to catch up with Scarlett and protect her.

Bones train of thought crashed into a fiery inferno as the floodlights surrounding the school building suddenly switched themselves off with a big whoosh, and then turned back on again, painting the plain white building in a harsh, red glow. Around the zone they were in, the tall rusty poles with the equally rusty speakers began emitting the sound of sirens from the world wars, and both Bones and Abby grabbed at their collars in unison, knowing that if they didn't flee the fight now, that not only would they have to deal with Jack the dungeon master, but also the possibility of their necks blowing up just like Emma Silverman's had done. Hoping that Matt and Scarlett had made it to safety, Bones barely had enough time to turn and watch as Abby was already sprinting through the rusted playground and towards the trees, giving one last vengeful look at Jack Martin, who was reloading his crossbow, Bones hoisted up his bag and followed her, running as fast as he could. Just as he felt he was in the clear, catching up with the girl in the striped hoodie, he heard an all too familiar whooshing sound and felt a stab of burning pain in his side.

"GAAARGH!" Bones cried, his eyes watering and squinting as he tried to fight back the urge to collapse and die. As he opened them again he could see that Abby hadn't heard him and was already far enough away that calling out to her would be pointless, watching with a sinking feeling in his stomach as his old friend vanished into the darkness, Bones could only look down at the arrow that entered his body through the back and poked through the front like a kebob skewer, coming right between his one of his kidneys and his liver, and luckily avoiding both. Lifting up the tattered Six Pistols vest, he cringed at the sight of the arrow, completely coated red, causing little torents of blood to spray across his sixpack and onto his tight jeans. Lowering the shirt and fighting the urge to puke in his mouth, Bones struggled to move, every slight twitch making him throb with severe pain. Eventually, he willed himself to take staggering steps further away from the playground and into the high grass, and he prayed that the arrow hadn't slowed him down enough to be caught in the danger zone.

"HALT RIGHT THERE FOUL SOLDIER OF EVIL!" Barked Jack Martin in a voice that sounded like he was trying put on a fancy british accent.

Turning, Bones saw the meaty geek practically roll off of the roof and land awkwardly in the bushes lining the white school building, quickly shooting back up to his full height, quickly raising the crossbow and squinting throw his thick nerdy glasses, Jack Martin fired another arrow that narrowly missed the target. Feeling fear sinking in his stomach, Bones shuffled backwards, taking clumsy steps through the long grass as he watched his attacker rush closer and closer, panting as each hurried step took his breath away. The red and sweating Jack skidded to a halt and fired another arrow that would have impaled Bones through the eye, but luckily, Bones, who had finally made it to the trees had tripped over a gnarled root and the arrow had struck the tree behind him. The fall however, had severely jogged the arrow which resulted in a near volcanic eruption of pain that made Bones feel faint and dizzy.

"THY SHALL OVERCOMETH!" Roared Jack Martin in rage, resuming his clumsy run as his collar began to flash bright crimson. His olive bag bounced and the arrows rattled like bones in the quiver he had only just managed to squeeze over his back. His curly afro beginning to sag with sweat over his pimply face, Jack's eyes were practically bloodshot as the redlight in his collar died and blew up mid-sprint. At first the blast was like a shower of white sparks, followed by a very loud bang, as if somebody had set off a firework in the distance or just fired a shotgun. Expecting to see Jack fall down in a shower of blood like Emma had, Bones was more shocked to see that Jack's collar detonation was more similar to the eventual death of Jacob Garcia. The charge, much stronger than it had been back in the school practically tore Jack's head from his shoulders, blowing his neck into a bloody stump and blasting the lower half of his head into thick red chunks.

_**BoY #20 JaCK MaRTiN - eLiMiNaTeD**_

The headless body ran for another few meters like in that chicken story Bones had heard about, before collapsing in a heap onto the rusty roundabout, causing the thing to spin slowly as the corpse splayed on top of it jerked about awkwardly. What was left of the head, mainly everything from the upper jar and above, seemed to somersault in the air before striking the middle of the metal slide with a big vibrating thud, before sliding down and rolling across the cracked concrete like a soccer ball. Looking down at the cracked, bloody glasses that had sailed through the air and landed on his chest, Bones rolled onto his side and vomited into the earth, his eyes watering and his skin flushing pale. Sitting there for a moment in an unpleasant cocktail of anxiety, pain, fear and disgust, Bones finally realised that his collar (and as a result his head) was still intact. Counting his blessings that he had made it out of the first fight of the game, Bones finally succumbed to the pain of his injuries and passed out, slumped against the tree, lulled into his uncomfortable sleep by the steady whining of the round-about as it finally stopped it's slow spin with a rusty creak.

_**DiD You MaKe iT ouT oF THe FiRST FiGHT aLiVE?...ReaD aND ReVieW!**_


End file.
